As the beginning of the school year comes closer, dorm room organization and decoration has become a favorite discussion topic among my group of friends. 

Our future dorm rooms vary in almost every aspect (size, shape, location, wall color, and floor material, to name just a few), but the one thing we’ve got in common is the standard issue furnishings our colleges and universities so generously provide us.

Everyone can rattle off the list: a closet or wardrobe, a dresser, a desk with a chair, and of course a bed. How to arrange these cookie-cutter fixtures, however, is a subject not often breached by us as we madly compare comforters and accent rugs, though it’s just as important as our decor.

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A room layout can give off a multitude of vibes, and is integral to one’s college experience, whether you want to focus on welcoming visitors or having a private place to study.

Now that we’ve learned how to organize our rooms around a color scheme, this article will teach you how to create your own dorm room layout, based on your needs. Since the vast majority of college students live in doubles, these are the rooms we will be focusing on.

For easy explanation, we have created illustrations for these sample dorm room layouts. If you want to create your own dorm layout, there are online tools to help! This is a good one.

For decor visualizing, we recommend Dormify’s awesome bed and wall generators, to give you an idea of how things will look.

Below, I’ve created three rooms: one that emphasizes privacy, one that emphasizes a social atmosphere, and a taste of feng shui.

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